Saturday, 15 December 2012

I did not think I would get a chance to write today as I have been rushing to finish getting ready for the Caen Campaign which will start at club tomorrow. So Nothing I can show at this stage, as it is all paperwork, squad rosters, maps and pre planning. The game we will play first will be an introduction game to get people a basic understanding of the rules we will be using. I am expecting it to go slowly as most large games do when they have many players. I might be surprised and it might go very quickly. If it does I'll raise the break points for the squads so they hang around longer but I don't think I shall need to. If it goes really fast we can always play a couple of games.or more likely play something else.

So the basis of the first game is that it is set one day before the campaign actually starts. The Canadians are under orders to advance to make contact with the Germans and thus establish a "front line". Once the front line is established the campaign can start. Historically speaking this section of the Normandy Campaign Monty's plan was to exert pressure along the line to draw German troops into the battle. By drawing the Germans close to Caen the Germans would need to weaken their front line elsewhere which would then allow the American beach areas to break out in "Operation Cobra". There were a number of drawbacks which stopped this being as successful as envisaged. But given that each player will be given a single squad, say 10 men, then the bigger picture need not be explored too greatly. After all war is a very personal experience and the man on the ground usually only gets to see about 100m from where they are standing at any one time.

Not really much of a post, but I have already put the camera in my bag so unless it falls apart an AAR of Monday. All the Best hope to give you a fuller report on Monday. Til then take care keep warm and if you can get some painting done. All the best Clint

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Yes I know the world and his dog have seen 20mm plastic soldiers enough to last them a lifetime, if not longer. I thought I should offer some proof that I have been painting ready for the Caen Campaign. So here and below are just a couple of pics which show both the Brits and the Germans together with their corresponding poses. All the figures are from "the Plastic Soldier Company" and a box set of hard plastics retail for about £10 give or take. Lots of the figures are in two or three pieces, but once cleaned up the fit together very nicely. Each box contains 3 hard plastic sprues with 10-11 different figures on each sprue. As you can see with these two riflemen many of the poses are very similar but with different nationalities. I have no issue with this as they will not be put next to each other like this on the games table. The Canadian uniform is straightforward Khaki with hi-lights and shading and actually takes as long for me to do as the German Camouflage (Oak leaf spring) pattern. I don't hi-light and shade my camouflage patterns at any scale smaller then 54mm, they simply don't seem to need it!

These next two are Light machine guns on the move. The molding and angle do much to conceal the Germans MG34. But the Canadians Bren Gun is prominently on display. Given the rules we shall be using (Operation Squad) the two weapons are very different. Just as they were/are in real life. This is one aspect of the rules which appeals to me. The 30 round magazine for the Bren does a lot to restrict it's rate of fire due to reloads. While the MG34 could have a magazine, but could also be belt fed.

The Last pic for today shows each nations medics. Medics in the campaign might become very useful when players want to patch up troops on the front line. Only a few squads will have medics attached the others will just have to make do as best they can. This is simply because the lieutenants either spent the points on medics or did not. And the players will each be given a RANDOM squad. So I expect most squads to have no medical benefits, mind you the choice of how to spend the points was not easy for some people.

That's it for today. Thanks for popping by and talk again soon. All the best Clint.

Monday, 10 December 2012

No wargaming stuff today- it was a weekend swamped with relatives doing the pre-Christmas rounds drinking tea eating cake and giving cards. The knock on effect is that I got No painting done. Absolutely nothing, and I did have such good intentions as well.

In fact the closest thing I could manage was to send out a small Christmas pressie to a couple of other bloggers whom have kept me amused with various antics through-out the year. With that introduction you already should know who they are. (Stadler and Waldorf). Also known as Ray and Fran.

Pictured above are the actual contents. One Each guys and you get what you get. The coin (a 20pence piece) is for scale only and is not part of the gift. Ideally open it when you are both together at work where you will or can be undisturbed. No arguing and play nice! I have a written promise from Ray already so I shall trust you Fran to do the same! The pressie was sent 1st class yesterday so you may well receive it later this day.

For any other readers I should be able to get some painting done later today (with luck) so I intend to update again on Thursday. All the best Clint.

Sunday, 9 December 2012

Many games have zombies attracted by loud noises. This zombie hunter is not so worried about making noise as getting the job done and getting the hell out of there. Firstly let me say I have no idea who makes the basic sculpt. It has a Copplestone/foundry quality to it but I can't locate it, in any quick search of the listings, which is a shame a I would like a few more of them. I have had to convert both arms. The left arm started on a Gripping beast Viking but with some green stuff and a HUGE amount of luck I finally managed to make it fit. The Right arm with the sawn off was a much easier job. It came without any clothing so I just added a ragged sleeve to the leather jacket. I won't dwell on how the leather jacket got ripped so badly, we shall just gloss over that and pretend it looks right. Sssh don't mention the sleeve! I have decided that painting motorcycles is a pain. In the end I settled on a bright red single colour having first tried black which looked too dark and green which was meh! I did consider putting some flames on it, but after a very quick trial on a piece of paper decided that painting hot rod style flames was really not something I was any good at (And that is an understatement, I was utter rubbish at painting flames).

The left arm has as you can see with a quick inspection had a small "filler2 section added between the wrist and the sleeve. His hand was not long enough to reach the handle bars other wise. You don't notice it from more than a foot away, unless you are looking for it of course. And this is also why the bike is turning as opposed to going in a straight line. As I type this I am thinking myself foolish for highlighting all the mistakes. But as I think I can get away with them on the table top I am not all that worried and it is the overall feel of the figure that is important, as it is in no way a competition piece. Although I did at one stage (before I started assembly) think I could use it for the ZOMBIE BLOGGERS ASSOCIATION Christmas competition. That idea has quickly faded! You can also see a V patch on the left sleeve. The Motorcycle club ("not gang of course it's only a club 'cos our Lawyers sez we gotta call it a club") is called VERMIN with purple and white gang erhm I mean club colours.

The right arm shows a deep scratch on his forearm (a happy painting accident) and a better view of the sawn off shot gun. The combination of sawn off shot gun and chopper is bound to attract attention from all the zeds in the area and pull them towards the figure. So he will be a Zed-magnet in most games, but if used cleverly this could be a good thing. Collect all the zombies in an area up and get them to follow you and the other players can happily loot the area, just don't run out of fuel!

That's it on the painting front for today but I would like to thank Irqan at http://lrqan.blogspot.co.uk/ for nominating me for the Liebster Award. Having thought long and hard about it I have decided not to pass it on. I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone, least of all the nominator by doing this. But it seems to me that everyone whom I would choose to give it too has already had it. As such I feel at a dead end with it and perhaps it has run its course. At least that's my take on the situation.

Lastly, I am very interested in the Painting competition being run by Carl at Analogue-hobbies. I very much intent to participate next year assuming I remember and can stock up on things to paint. Yes I know I have enough unpainted already, but everything has to be historical and the key to success seems to be in numbers painted with larger figures getting more points than smaller ones. But I see this as an opportunity to start and finish a whole army (or two) from start to finish in as short a time as possible.

Final thoughts about the figure above If anyone can positively identify the manufacture I would be grateful. All the best keep up the blogging and hope to post again on Tuesday.